I look to agitate the waters of stagnation.  Any flashes of brilliance merely serve as an incentive to carry on chasing that magical dancing light, colour and painterliness that we artists all crave.  My brain tells me to paint tight, but my heart screams the opposite.  Surely my heart will win come the day of reckoning? The journey is as hard as I expect it to be. 

I was born in Sunderland, County Durham in 1952, educated in Reigate, Surrey, moved around the country and eventually settled to plan, with my wife Bev, to open a gallery and framing workshop in rural Nottinghamshire.

Although becoming one of the first in the UK to qualify as a Fine Art Trade Guild Commended Framer, my heart was in painting and, after thirteen years of framing and selling other artists' work, we sold our business to concentrate on my own work.
After exhibiting and demonstrating for many years at Patchings Art Centre, I became one of their resident artists in 2001/2, where I had my own studio, taught a few classes and generally enjoyed  being involved with the place. Giving demonstrations and workshops to art groups and societies was also a feature at this time.
The aptly named Genesis Fine Arts was the first company to distribute my paintings nationwide. Solomon & Whitehead then published my work and used their extensive national gallery network to sell my originals.

After living in rural Brittany for a number of years, I returned to my North-East roots to open Frederick Street Gallery in Sunniside, Sunderland, which also served as my studio, before expanding to The Bridges to open a gallery dedicated to serving the needs of local artists.  The Covid period saw me changing the gallery name to Pigment and Toil (a name suggested by Frank Styles), prior to transferring ownership to Graham Hodgson.  I have now exchanged gallery life for...wait for it...painting. 

I sell all of my paintings directly to the general public from this website.  I post all of my recent works here, or Instagram, Facebook and Youtube.